Deerfield's Poitier sentenced to probation, community service

One of Broward County's longest-serving politicians, suspended Deerfield Beach City Commissioner Sylvia Poitier, was sentenced to one year of probation, 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine Wednesday for falsifying city records.

A jury found Poitier guilty of failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest she had in supporting a grant for a city business association that owed money to her brother.

Poitier, a former county commissioner and well-known face in public service for nearly 40 years, is the latest in a long line of local politicians to face criminal charges. She is the third elected Deerfield Beach representative accused of wrongdoing and the second city politician who was found guilty in recent months.

That means that Poitier technically does not have a criminal conviction, even though a jury found her guilty of four misdemeanor counts of falsifying records. It also means that she can eventually apply to have the case sealed.

Prosecutor David Schulson said Poiter, who is 76 and a Democrat, will be removed from office, pointing to a state statute that says Gov. Rick Scott "shall remove" an elected official who is found guilty of an offense, even if adjudication is withheld.

Still, there is nothing to prevent Poitier from running for the District 2 city seat, which she has been suspended from holding, after the current election term expires in March 2015. Poitier could run for any other elected office after she completes probation.

Poitier began to tell her supporters and reporters that she thought the judge's ruling meant she could immediately return to the city commission dais in Deerfield Beach, but her attorney stopped her and said they were still researching what is possible. After that, Poitier declined to elaborate.

"I do find that Ms. Poitier served her community very well," Brown said. "I believe you can still do good in your community."

Brown ruled that Poitier must serve one year of administrative probation, which means she only has to register with probation officials and stay out of trouble for a year. She also must pay a $1,000 fine and close to $1,000 in court costs.

"I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done for me today," Poitier told the judge.

The only real issue in dispute Wednesday was the question of adjudication.

Schulson had argued strongly that Poitier, as a public official, should be held to a higher standard than many other first-time offenders and that the jury verdict should remain on her official record forever.

The maximum punishment was up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine per count, but the fact she had no prior criminal record and the less serious nature of the misdemeanor charges had always meant she was unlikely to be jailed.

Poitier's attorney, Johnny McCray Jr., said he will file an appeal to overturn the verdict. He said he believes the withheld adjudication also could help Poitier hold on to two state pensions that would pay her $3,369 a month.

Poitier was found guilty of four charges that she falsified city records – voting conflict-of-interest forms that Poitier filed with the city between September 2007 and August 2008.

Poitier voted in favor of giving a grant to the nonprofit Westside Deerfield Businessmen Association in March 2009, but never revealed that her brother had a financial interest in the group receiving money. Poitier's brother, Lionel Ferguson, had provided loans of more than $46,000 to the group and the debt was still owed, with interest due.

The city never awarded the grant because there wasn't enough support from the rest of the commissioners, but Poitier's vote was still a potential conflict of interest because the grant money could have improved the chances of her brother being repaid, prosecutors said.

Supporters who spoke on Poitier's behalf said she is always available to help the poorest and neediest people in the county.

Poitier said that when she was jailed for a few hours before she bonded out last year, "I even ate lunch in the jail just to go through it and see what it was like."

Poitier said or wrote that she had a conflict of interest when she declined to vote on the matter on four prior occasions because of other family members who volunteered for the group, but prosecutors said Poitier concealed the true reason she had a conflict of interest — her brother's stake in the organization's financial success. The alleged conflicts of interest she declared were a ruse, prosecutors said, because they were not real conflicts of interest.

Poitier also was personally involved in the loan negotiations and guided her brother, even driving ahead of his vehicle to show him where to pay taxes the group owed, as part of the loan, investigators said.

Two of Poitier's former fellow commissioners also have had legal troubles.

In July, former Commissioner Steve Gonot was sentenced to a year in jail for grand theft, official misconduct and falsifying records. A jury found him guilty of stealing $5,135 from his election campaign account. He is free on bail while he appeals.

Prosecutors also have charged former Mayor Al Capellini with unlawful compensation, saying he voted on a project in which he was a paid consultant — though the project already had the support of the city's four commissioners. He has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go to trial later this year.